Sunday, December 25, 2011

Responding to a plan by the Occupy movement to demonstrate at theRose Parade on Jan. 2, the local Tea Party folks decided to join inthe fun, setting up a riveting contest to determine which fringegroup could be the most obnoxious.

It looks, however, that we’ll be spared this ideological pillow fighton Colorado Boulevard. The Tea Party has opted out.

Maybe they realized that when the other guy looks stupid, there’snothing to be gained in looking stupid as well.

Look, I’m in sympathy with some of the aims of the Occupy crowd.For whatever else they have done, they have made income inequality,the widening gap between the haves and have-nots and the corruptinginfluence of money on politics a part of the national dialogue.

They have made it clear that this nation’s inability to create jobs,to prevent the wholesale evictions of economic victims from theirhomes, to protect citizens from predatory corporate practices isintolerable.

And they are willing to risk a face full of pepper spray and arrestto protest it.

Unfortunately, they have failed to move their arguments beyond thestreet. And many of their good intentions have been hijacked byanarchists, aged hippies, druggies, off-the-beaten-path religiouszealots and other assorted chest beaters. The result is a message somuddled that it has become unclear.

They are at risk of becoming irrelevant. The absolute wrong way toregroup, however, is to attempt to politicize a hundred thousandpeople who show up once a year to smell the roses, listen to thebands, root for their football teams and enjoy a slice of Americana.

It would be like teaching the catechism to the Taliban.

The plan as of now is to have the Occupy protestors march behind therest of the parade as it winds its way through Pasadena. That willput them smack dab behind a phalanx of police and a line ofmechanized street sweepers whose job it is to clear the streets ofrefuse.

The Occupy forces, if history repeats itself, will be joined by agaggle of Jesus freaks, Hare Krishnas, animal rights activists,anti-war protestors and other rebels with a cause who havetraditionally followed the parade, much to the interest ofpractically no one.

Oh, sure, the Occupy people will be waving signs along the paraderoute. But their main thrust is to carry a “Octupy Octopus,” a puppetcrafted from recycled plastic bags and bamboo that takes 40 people tooperate. According to organizers, it represents Wall Street’sstranglehold on American politics.

I saw a picture of it on their web site. It looks like a third-gradeart project.

Is this any way to win hearts and minds? It isn’t.

I suspect they are hoping for some TV exposure but I doubt they willget much unless some militant faction decides to storm the paraderoute. And that’s not the kind of exposure this movement needs.

The Occupy movement must define who they are, join with labor unionsand other sympathizers throughout the country to raise money andsupport candidates that believe in their values.

It’s called working within the system and it often works. The TeaParty did it. So can they.

But that can’t do it from a tent on some street corner. And theycan’t do it by embracing disruption as a political tool.

WHEN I was a child, my bedtime literature of choice was anything by A.A. Milne. I enjoyed the adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin but for reasons lost in the mists of memory, his "Now We Are Six" was my favorite.

I suspect I was impatient to reach that magical age, when you left babyhood behind and began to venture out into the world on voyages of discovery and adventure.

And being 6 was wonderful. It would be another five years before television made an appearance in our house so we spent our waking hours playing outdoors and building elaborate dream worlds. Without TV to render us physically and intellectually immobile, we traveled as far and wide as our imaginations would carry us.

Sure, there were skinned knees and hurt feelings from time to time but we were sheltered by our innocence from the harsh realities of life.

I mention all this because in one more week, I reach another milestone. I will be 70. I am frankly astounded. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was 6 and playing cowboys with the boy down the street. The important things in my life were bikes, baseball gloves and comic books.

I don't feel 70. Friends say I don't look 70. If they did, of course, they would no longer be my friends.

Come to think of it, however, I seem to have a lot more doctor appointments than I used to. I have lost a good 10 yards off my tee shot, gained a few inches around my waist and seemed to forget where I put my keys. So it must be true.

There are no books called "Now We Are 70" that romanticize the path that lies ahead, and no one to read them to you at bedtime. No one wants to remain 70 for ever and ever.

At this age, you try to live each day to its fullest and look back on the journey, trying to make some sense of it all.

On reflection, it's been a wonderful trip.

I was born 18 days after Pearl Harbor. I often wonder how my parents must have felt about bringing a child into a word engaged in a massive war. Were they worried? Were they scared? I never heard them speak of it. But they were made of stern stuff. My mother was abandoned in an orphanage at age 2. My dad never knew his real father. They were married just as the Depression hit.

My life wasn't nearly as tough. My world was living the lyrics of a Beach Boy's song. We surfed, hung out at Bob's Big Boy and took our girlfriends to proms. We were true to our school.

The worst thing that happened to me in high school was flunking out of geometry. Since it was mid-term, I had to find a course to finish out the year. I chose journalism. The rest is history.

Going to college was a slap in the face. I came to realize I had lived my life in a place that kept the rest of the world at arm's length. It wasn't until college that I made friends who were African American or Jewish or Hispanic.

I learned about injustice. I was exposed to cynicism, much of it directed at the middle class from which I came.

It made for a quick transition. Two years after I had been surfing in Newport Beach, I was arrested in a civil rights demonstration on Market Street in San Francisco.

Indeed, to be 70 is to be a part of a generation that fought to bring about the end to racial segregation in this country. It's difficult to imagine now but it wasn't long ago that many American citizens were relegated to second class status, and worse, by law and social attitudes.

Putting those impediments to equality to rest was an epic moment in this country's history. Those of us who took part did so because, simply, it was the right thing to do.

My generation was the first to embrace rock `n' roll. Whatever else you might think about it, rock was exciting and liberating, the pulsating background music to an era of change in this country. Nobody was going to march for justice to the sounds of Bing Crosby.

We weren't the greatest generation, not by a long shot. But we can look back and see that we made a difference.

So here we stand poised on the banks of the River Jordan or the River Styx, depending on how things work out. The sun is still above the horizon but not by much.

But I'm not ready to say goodbye quite yet. Like a 6 year old, I'm still searching for worlds to explore and adventures to be had.

After all, as George Bernard Shaw said, "We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I’m not sure what the Republican National Committee is up to thesedays.

But I’m betting that if they don’t get their game face on fairlysoon, they will be on the outside looking in on Election Day, 2012.

So far, the Republican presidential primary looks like it wasscripted by Mel Brooks. Take this week for example.

Newt Gingrich, suddenly breathing the rarefied air of a contender,does what any serious presidential candidate would do: He travels toNew York to kiss the ring of Donald Trump and seek his blessings.

Are you kidding me? Donald Trump, a political kingmaker? The snarlingbillionaire with the bad comb over who stars in really awful realityshows? Yeah, that’s the guy.

It would be funny except for the scary fact that he may somehowinfluence the choice of the next leader of the free world, shouldthat person be a Republican.

Newt’s not the first candidate to make the pilgrimage to Trump Tower.

Michele Bachmann made an appearance, so did Mitt Romney (although herefused to be photographed). Herman Cain dropped by as did RickPerry. Remember them?

But the wily Donald is withholding his endorsement for the timebeing. In fact, he says if he doesn’t see a winner in this bunch hewill run for the presidency himself as an independent.

This is so much hot air, of course. It’s important to remember thatwhen Trump starts making noises about being president, he usually hasa TV program debuting or a new book out. In this case, his tome,“Time to Get Tough,” is hitting the stores. Self-promotion is his thing.

Ultimately, this is all about money. Trump has it, the others wantit. Besides, Trump is going to orchestrate a candidate debate at theend of the month. It would be wise to stay on the good side of a guywho enjoys yelling, “You’re fired!”

Newt, in the meantime, is having a bad endorsement week. Trump camedown with lockjaw. Cain who has literally and figuratively kissed hischances goodbye, was going to throw his support to Gingrich butpulled back at the last moment. Gingrich has had to settle for thesupport of Dan Quayle, the former vice president best known as theman who couldn’t speak straight.

All of this raises some disturbing questions:

Why would Newt want the backing of Cain, an alleged serial womanizer?Gingrich doesn’t need voters to remember that, in an act of unbridledhypocrisy, he once carried on an admitted extra-marital affair with ayoung staffer while decrying Bill Clinton’s moral shortcomings.

Why would Newt allow Bob Livingston, who resigned as Speaker of theHouse when his marital infidelities were exposed, to throw afund-raiser for him in Washington, D.C. this week?

What kind of message is the Gingrich-Cain-Livingston team sending tothe country? How about “lock up your wives and daughters.”

Why would Newt want the backing of Trump? As a candidate in thespring, the Donald experienced one of the quickest falls in recentpolitical history when he dropped from leading the Republican fieldwith 26% to 8% in the space of four weeks.

If that’s not enough, a new poll from NBC and Marist College showsmore voters in Iowa and New Hampshire would be turned off by a Trumpendorsement than positively influenced by one.

A story in the Washington Post explains a lot. “Gingrich isstruggling to get out from under a mountain of debt from luxury jetsand other pricey expenses racked up in the early weeks of hiscampaign. Creditors say Gingrich has begun paying back nearly $1.2million in bills he owed at the end of September, and his spokesmansays most will be taken care of by the end of the year...”

In the meantime, Romney has raised $32.6 million while Gingrich hasaccumulated $4 milllion. Donald can you spare a dime?

And what about this debate that Trump is staging in Iowa? So far,four candidates, Romney, Ron Paul, Perry and Jon Huntsman, have senttheir regrets, probably figuring that this particular forum will endup being A Salute to Donald Trump’s Ego.

So far the participants consist of Newt and Rick Santorum.

Even Republican strategist Karl Rove is appalled. “We've got a guywho is not only saying 'I'm going to make a decision about who I'mgonna endorse shortly after this debate and I'm already leaningsomeway -- and I may run myself,' and we expect him to be theimpartial moderator of the debate?" he said on Fox News.

All of this has a good chance of being the biggest bust since GeraldoRivera opened Al Capone’s vault.

The RNC had better bring order to this chaos if they want theircandidate to have a fighting chance.

Monday, December 05, 2011

Peace has returned to the Arroyo Seco. Songbirds are singing, theirvoices carried on breezes wafting through the giant oaks, the sunbeams down on happy upturned faces while serenity abounds.

Yes, folks, football season is almost over and the Rose Bowl isreturning to its somnambulant state.

It’s been a great season for the nearby residents of the bowl. TheUCLA Bruins, principal occupants of the stadium, have been so badthat attendance is dropping by the tens of thousands.

This is just fine with the homeowners who rarely emerge duringfootball season for fear of being struck by falling property values.

Football games draw crowds and crowds make them unhappy. Many wouldbe pleased if football was prohibited and the Rose Bowl was turnedinto a museum.

Oh sure, they tolerate the Rose Bowl game on New Years. It’s all pompand pageantry and princesses, the kind of thing that makes you proudto be a Pasadenan.

Beyond that? Couldn’t they just go and play somewhere else?

I guess these good people didn’t notice the 100,000-seat stadium whenthey moved into the neighborhood.

But all is not happy in Arroyoland. The Rose Bowl, as it has foryears, needs money. They need it for maintenance of a nearly90-year-old facility, they need it to modernize and stay competitive,they need it because the stadium actually operates at a loss.

They need money because the stadium by ordinance is limited to 12events a year that would attract more than 20,000 attendees. And thatimpacts the stadium’s revenue stream.

Now, the National Football League is being wooed by Los Angeles cityofficials and if the NFL decides to locate a team here, it would needa place to play while a new stadium is being built to house the proteam.

Rose Bowl officials would like to see their stadium as that temporaryhome. The money such an arrangement would generate could help pay offa $16 million revenue shortfall in a $150 million renovation projectcurrently underway.

The neighbors are, predictably, upset despite the fact that the NFLin L.A. is a long way from reality. This paper reported that theLinda Vista/Annandale Association's 18-member board "votedunanimously to oppose any occupancy of the Rose Bowl stadium by theNFL," citing crowds and the negative impact on the Arroyo’srecreational activities.

The city sees it a bit differently. “There obviously will bepotential impacts associated with the neighborhood; there will alsobe significant economic impacts to the businesses in the community,to the city's General Fund and to the stadium," City Manager MichaelBeck told this paper. "We have to take into consideration all ofthose."

I did some freelance work for the Rose Bowl several years ago,writing press releases and consulting as stadium officials launched afundraising drive for their renovation project.

That experience left me with two impressions:

(1) Rose Bowl officials bend over backwards to be good neighbors.Despite the bluster from local homeowners associations, complaintsfrom residents are taken very seriously and steps are taken toresolve them to the satisfaction of all concerned. When therenovation project was launched, Rose Bowl officials reached out toresidents to make them part of the planning process. (2) Money is always an issue. People think the stadium is rolling in money. Itisn’t. Rose Bowl officials rely on revenue from the Brookside golfcourses to help pay the bills.

Is this any way to treat an icon? If any institution in Pasadenadeserves some love, the Rose Bowl is it.

The stadium’s importance to Pasadena can’t be overstated. The NewYears game itself contributes $58.6 million to the city’s economy,according to a study by the USC Marshall School of Business.

The Rose Bowl is one of the most recognizable sports facilities inthe world. It’s very existence has elevated Pasadena from justanother Los Angeles suburb to the special status it enjoys now.

Homeowners have every right to protect their property. But there’s athin line between self-interest and obstructionism.

If local homeowners fear the NFL, they should help in thefund-raising efforts to complete the renovation project. Supportingthe Rose Bowl will pay enormous dividends to the city they call home.And peace will reign in the Arroyo.